1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for controlling the displacement of a vehicle pedal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various structures have been proposed as counter-measures in the event that an external force of a predetermined value or more acts on the front portion of a vehicle. An example of these counter-measures is the structure disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-U) No. 1-73464.
The structure disclosed in JP-U No. 1-73464 will be described hereinafter. As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the structure disclosed in JP-U No. 1-73464, a steering column 402 which covers a steering shaft 400 is supported at a vehicle body by a tilt bracket 408 and a shaft 410. The tilt bracket 408 is formed from an upper plate member 404 and a pair of side plate members 406. The shaft 410 passes through the side plate members 406 and supports the lower side of the steering column 402.
Below the above-described tilt bracket 408 is disposed an elastically deformable knee protector with a substantially circular arc-shaped surface. This knee protector 412 is elastically supported at the bottom side of the steering column 402 via an elastically deformable stay 414.
According to the above-described structure, when an external force of a predetermined value or more acts on the front portion of a vehicle, the occupant of the vehicle is moved by inertia towards the front of the vehicle. Accompanying this, the legs of the occupant of the vehicle are bent from the knees and are moved by inertia towards the front of the vehicle. Therefore, if there were no knee protector 412 disposed in the vehicle, the possibility would exist that the legs of the occupant may come into contact with the tilt bracket 408. However, if the knee protector 412 is disposed under the tilt bracket 408, as is described above, then the knees of the occupant come into contact with only the knee protector 412.
While a structure where this type of knee protector 412 is provided may be considered a significant countermeasure when an external force above a predetermined value acts on the front portion of the vehicle, it is possible to look at countermeasures for protecting the legs of the vehicle occupant from other viewpoints. It is also important that these viewpoints include several forms of countermeasures for protecting the legs of the vehicle occupant which are effected in order to provide multiple levels of protection for the legs of the vehicle occupant.
The present inventors conceived of the idea of the present invention from these viewpoints, conducted various experiments, and arrived upon extremely effective countermeasures to control the displacement of a vehicle pedal when an external force of a predetermined value or more acts on the front portion of a vehicle, by focusing on the deformation and the displacement behavior of body panels and the like when such an external force is applied.